Just a quick update...

I'm back in Ouaga, the capital, for 4 days to help out with a food distribution that ACCEDES is heading up. Some MKs at the International School of Ouagadougou raised money for this food distribution, to help some of the poorer citizens of the city. So they asked Robert, my boss and the head of ACCEDES, to direct the distribution. I am here with Robert, his driver Aly, and another ACCEDES worker, Marcell, who is the head of the microfinance programs at ACCEDES. We're staying at the CAMA guesthouse, and right now I'm at the Albright's house (the Albrights are CAMA missionaries and have been my contacts here in Burkina).

My first week has been good.....really long, really overwhelming, but good. I have been focusing on trying to get adjusted to the language and culture. It's so different from what I'm used to in some ways - but then it's also unnervingly similar to Haitian culture in so many other ways. It's made me homesick for Haiti a lot, but it's also been comforting, too, to live in a culture that's so similar.

Yesterday I met with Robert to talk about my internship and how I plan to go about my research. Our discussion was really helpful and encouraging - it seems like we're on the same page and he had a lot of helpful advice for me. I don't know him well at all, but I already respect and admire him a lot. Here's a Burkinabe man who is actually doing the things that I've been learning about in all my community development classes! He is a real live development worker who has a heart for serving God and restoring broken relationships. He has a lot of experience and knowledge, and I'm really looking forward to learning from him.

I am hoping to start my research on Monday, the day after we get back from Ouaga. The first thing I have to do is meet with Mme. Medembele, the ACCEDES worker who has directed the IMPACT Transformation project. The IMPACT project is the program that I've been sent here to research; ACCEDES has piloted the project, and wants me to know evaluate it and see what kind of impact it's had on the participants. It is a project targeted towards local Christian women, and includes discipleship training, microfinance, health and nutrition, and gardening. I am meeting with Mme. Medembele on Monday so that she can give me a complete history of the project. I still don't know many details, so I have a lot of questions for her. She will then help me set up meetings with the women who participated, so that I can interview them. I just found out yesterday that the program is still being implemented in another town, Balfoa, which is about an hour from Bobo. So I'll get a chance to visit there with Mme. M and see the program in action!

A praise.....that I am feeling more and more at home with my host family. It's become a little easier to communicate with them - I don't think my French has gotten better, but I think I am starting to understand the Burkinabe accent a little more. Marthe, my host, has been so patient with me! And the two little girls, Jedida and Bethema, make an effort to communicate with me despite our major language barrier. I have learned two sentences in Dioula, the local tribal language: "Anee soro ma" is the morning greeting, and "Mou fe lo?" means "What is this?" I use the second sentence quite often when I'm with Jedi and Bathema - I'll point to something and ask them what the word is in Dioula. I can never remember the word afterwards, but it's still fun to ask them things. :)

Well that's all for now! I'll write more when I get a chance!